1. The Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a device for holding at least one roller of a rolling machine and a rolling machine.
2. The Relevant Technology
Rolling methods that involve compressive forming are among many methods that are used in forming work pieces from an initial shape into a desired intermediate shape (semi-finished product, pre-forming) or final shape (end product, final forming). In the rolling process, the work piece (rolling stock) is arranged between two rotating rollers, and subjected to a forming pressure exerted by the rotating rollers to alter its shape. In the roll forming method, work piece sections are arranged on the periphery of the rollers, which enable the generation of corresponding profiles in the work piece. In flat rolling, the cylindrical or conical outer surfaces of the rollers act directly on the work piece.
In terms of the relative movement of tools or rollers on the one hand, and the work piece on the other, rolling methods are divided into “longitudinal rolling”, “transverse rolling” and “cross rolling”. In longitudinal rolling, the work piece is moved through a gap between the rollers (roller gap) that is perpendicular to the rotational axes of the rollers in a translational motion, most often without rotating. In transverse rolling, the work piece does not move in a translational motion, relative to the rollers or their rotational axes, but rather turns only around its own axis. Its own axis is a principal axis of inertia, such that the principal axis of inertia is a symmetrical axis, given a rotationally symmetrical work piece. The combination of both types of movement involved in longitudinal and transverse rolling is referred to as “cross rolling”. The rollers are here generally slanted relative to each other such that the work piece is moved translationally and rotationally.
Grooved cross rolling machines typically include two rollers with wedge-shaped profiled tools, and are arranged on the rolling machines' outer periphery. The two rollers rotate in the same direction about parallel rotational axes, and are sometimes also referred to as “cross wedge rollers”. The profiled tools have a wedge-shaped or triangular (at the cross-section) geometry as their axial dimensions along the periphery either increase in one direction and/or run slanted to the rotational axis of the rollers.
These cross wedge rollers, or grooved cross rollers, enable a versatile forming of work pieces within high precision, and dimensional accuracy. The wedge-shaped tools can produce continuous grooves and other tapers in the rotating work piece. Axial shifts in the peripheral direction, or a slanting of tool wedges relative to the rotational axis, make it possible to generate changing structures and tapers in the work piece axially with respect to the rotational axis, for example. Increasing or decreasing the outer diameter of the tool wedge while proceeding around the rotational axis makes it possible, in combination with the slanted arrangement, to generate axially-running slants and continuous transitions between two tapers of varying diameter in the work piece. Cross wedge rollers are particularly suited for manufacturing elongated, rotationally symmetrical work pieces with constrictions or elevations, such as with cams or ribs.
German Patent Application No. DE 1 477 088 C describes a cross wedge rolling machine for transversely rolling rotational solids or flat work pieces with two working rollers rotating in the same rotational direction, whose rolling surfaces accommodate exchangeable wedge tools. The wedge tools each have wedge-shaped (or triangular) reduction strips that ascend from the roller jacket to an end height tailored to the work piece to be manufactured, and are roughened such as by knurling, along with wedge-shaped, smooth forming surfaces with a calibration effect spaced identically apart from the roller jacket. The wedge tools are designed as deformation segments, and only traverse a partial area of the accompanying roller surface. The facing surfaces and tools of the two working rollers move or rotate in an opposite direction relative to each other on the work piece.
German Patent Application No. DE 39 26 356 C2 describes a rolling machine with exchangeable working rollers. Each of the working rollers is provided on one face with a cylindrical tap mounted on a divided clamping element of a drive shaft, wherein a movable clamping part of the clamping element is connected with a fixed clamping part at least by one screw and one nut. The opposing face of each working roller exhibits a cylindrical tap mounted on a divided clamping element of the thrust cylinder, whose moveable clamping part is again connected with a fixed clamping part by means of at least one screw and one nut. The working shaft is made to rotate by a drive via the drive shaft. The accompanying clamping element and mounted cylindrical tap impart the active torque from the drive shaft to the roller.
German Patent Application No. DE 309 408 C discloses the mount for a typewriter plate.
German Patent Application No. DE 891 642 C discloses a roller mounting plate for a rolling machine. In this known rolling machine, each bearing journal has a coupling flange on the roller stand into which a centering shoulder of the roller body can be inserted without one or both bearing journals axially shifting. The coupling flange can be designed as a pocket, in which the centering shoulder of the roller body is inserted and held in place by an end cap. Bolts or screws can be provided for securing the centering shoulder and coupling flanges to each other.
Accordingly, an advantage in the art can be realized with systems and methods that provide a simple and reliable mount for the roller of a rolling machine, and that provide a corresponding rolling machine for implementing the same.